Navigating Great Power Rivalry in the UN Security Council: A European Perspective

This article contributes to the growing body of research on the contestation of international organizations in the context of escalating great power rivalries. While the phenomenon of power competition is generally accepted in the literature, the specific ways in which it manifests itself within international organizations remain underexplored. This study examines the evolving dynamics of multilateral security cooperation, with a particular focus on the UN Security Council (UNSC) and its two European permanent members. It presents a typology of responses to increasing geopolitical competition. Adopting a European perspective, the article addresses the question of how the UK and France navigate such an institutional environment. Empirically the article concentrates on Sudan and Mali for which the UK and France are penholders in the UN Security Council and which underwent major geopolitical transformation over the last years.